


Don't Cry, You're Beautiful

by whogivesacare



Series: You Bring Me Home [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Suicide Attempt, serpent! jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-13 22:28:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11769684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whogivesacare/pseuds/whogivesacare
Summary: In which Betty is broken and Jughead is the only one that can save her





	Don't Cry, You're Beautiful

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: attempted suicide and mentions of abuse

Jughead Jones-- Riverdale’s resident badboy. No one messes with him, and barely anyone talks to him. He likes it that way. He doesn’t like people getting in his business when they don’t need to.

But it hadn’t always been that way. Believe it or not, Jughead used to be bullied by the ‘cool’ kids--it was a given with a name like  _ Jughead _ . He had one friend, Archie Andrews, and that was it. He was weird, he was bullied, but he was  _ happy _ . 

Until everything changed, that is. Jughead’s mom left with his sister, his dad turned to drugs and alcohol, and even joined the local gang. And Jughead--Jughead shut down completely. He aged the day his mom left, having to take responsibility for his dad. He even shut out his only friend Archie because he couldn’t handle the sad looks he gave him. 

His dad eventually became the leader of the Serpents, and Jughead joined to bring in more money to pay the bills. He didn’t do much, but his reputation was made the second he joined the gang. Jughead Jones is not to be messed with, and he doesn’t care about anyone.

Except he does care about Betty Cooper. He doesn’t know her, has never spoken to her in his life, but he has always watched her. 

He knows that she was good friends with Archie, neighbors and everything. He knows that she’s a cheerleader, head editor of the school newspaper, in the student government, and on the party planning committee. She seemed to do it all, and have it all, even being top of the class. She always had a smile on her face, her clothes pristine, and never a hair out of place. No one would ever assume that something was wrong.

No one except Jughead. He spent years watching her every move, so he noticed when everything started to change. When her smile weakened, when her face fell, when Betty Cooper became not-so-perfect.

It started at the beginning of their junior year. Jughead was more moody than ever, due to his dad being sentenced to prison for a drunk driving accident over the summer. All of his father’s responsibilities had now landed on him, leaving him with a certain power over the gang. Not that he wanted it, or anything, and it made people even more scared of him.

Around this same time, he first noticed Betty slip. He was in class with her, biology, and he noticed her low grade on the test they had just gotten back. He watched as she stared at it for a good minute, before she forced a smile and turned the paper over. It happened again in english, a low score on an essay. Again, Betty just put on a smile a hid the grade, pretending it didn’t happen. 

One day at lunch, Betty was sitting alone instead of at her normal table with Archie and Kevin. She was staring down at her food, picking at it with her fork instead of eating it. Jughead watched from the other side of the lawn, sitting on his own like usual. She pushed her food around the entire lunch, until she got up and threw it in the trash, walking out before the bell even rang.

Jughead noticed the little things about Betty, that no one else seemed to. How quiet she was all the time, how her clothes seemed to be baggy, and how she’d stare off into space when people were talking all around her. Everyone else just seemed to go about their lives, not paying attention to the broken girl in front of them.

He remembered back to that night during the summer, one of the many times he was out late at Pop’s. It was raining that night, almost monsooning, so Jughead was alarmed when Betty came in by herself, soaking wet. She had her hood up, her hair out of its normal ponytail, and she seemed winded, as if she was running. She sat in a booth on the opposite side of the restaurant and removed her head, but let her hair fall in her face. The waitress went over to her to ask for her order, but something stopped her when Betty looked up. The waitress, a kind, older woman, slowly reached out to Betty’s face, but Betty quickly turned her face away, quickly placing her order. The waitress frowned but walked away, and Jughead just sat there, watching as Betty put her face in her hands and hunched over. He wanted to help her, wanted to go over there and sit with her, but he couldn’t. Being in a gang didn’t make him any less of a coward. 

Jughead didn’t see her for the rest of the summer, and when they got back to school, she was different. She kept her head down, held her books close to her chest, and only spoke when she needed to. She was no longer the perfect girl next door that everybody knew, but nobody knew it.

At the same time that Betty Cooper was falling, Jughead Jones was rising in the ranks of the Serpents. People began to favor him over his dad, and he gained a new family when he lost his actual one. At school, even the teachers feared him, and Jughead almost missed social interaction. At least now he and Betty had something in common, like when she’d occasionally sit on her own at lunch, or sit in the back during class. Though everything changed, only one thing stayed constant-- Jughead never stopped watching Betty. He knew that if she ever noticed him she’d run off screaming, but he didn’t care. He cared about this girl that clearly was calling out for help but didn’t know how. He knew what that was like, he had been there before. If anyone would be able to help her, he’d like to think it could be him.

Her condition only worsened as the year went on, Jughead noticed. By Christmas, Betty was swimming in her sweaters, and she never wore her hair up in the sleek ponytail. She'd still sit by her friends and pretend everything was okay, but Jughead could see right through her. 

He saw her once over break. It was the day after Christmas and Jughead was at Pop’s like he always was. Betty was already there when he walked in, sitting alone at the counter. Jughead stopped in the doorway, shaking the snow off of his hat and watching her hunched figure. After a moment of deliberation, he finally sat down only a few seats away from her. Pop poured him a cup of coffee , and he noticed Betty nursing a similar cup. He tapped his fingers on the counter, watching her. She was looking out the window at the snow lightly falling. Her skin was pale, and she had dark bags under her eyes. She stared down at the cup of coffee in her hands, her sweater sleeves pulled down to her knuckles. Jughead watched her until she finished the cup, thanking Pop as she stood up and grabbed her coat. He noticed the way she winced as she lifted her arm to slip through the sleeve. He watched as she pulled a knit hat down over her ears and exited the diner, disappearing into the snow.

When they returned to school, Jughead didn’t see her at lunch anymore. He knew that she still went to school because of the class they had together, but he didn’t see her anywhere else. He didn’t even hear about her when he eavesdropped on her friends conversations. It was as if Betty Cooper ceased to exist.

Eventually winter turned into spring, the snow melting with the change. Everyone seemed to be happier, eating outside for lunch and having a good time. Except for Jughead and, well, Betty.

At the end of march, the day before spring break, Jughead watches Betty exit school and start walking the opposite way she normally walks. Jughead has watched her long enough to know she leaves to the east of the school, but here Betty was walking west. Curious, and also concerned, he gets in his truck and slowly starts following her. She’s walking fast and doesn’t seem to notice him as he continues at a safe distance.

Betty eventually reaches the edge of the woods by Sweetwater River. She’s weaving through the trees as Jughead parks the truck, jumping out and following after her. He loses her in the trees, and frantically runs around to try and find her. There's a bad feeling in his gut as he looks around for her, panic setting in.

He finally finds her in a small clearing by the riverbank. She's standing on the edge, looking down at something in her hands. He steps closer and sees it's a pill bottle, and there's fresh tears streaming down her eyes. He watches her open the bottle, angling it towards her hand to dump them out when he finally interrupts her.

“Betty!” He rushes out, walking forward. He obviously startles her, causing her to spin around so fast the pill bottle falls to the ground, the pills spilling out. She doesn't bother picking them up, staring at him with what Jughead guesses is fear in her eyes. He takes another step forward, holding an arm out cautiously, but she stumbles back, shaking her head.

“What are you- why are you here?” She asks frantically, gripping onto her jacket. Jughead notices her hair is in a ponytail so he can finally see her face. There's a bruise along her jaw and a small cut on her cheek, right beneath the dark purple bags under her eyes.

“I followed you,” Jughead admits quietly. Betty gasps and steps further back, her foot in the water. “Not like that! Please, don't be scared.”

“I know who you are. I know what you've done,” Betty whispers, hugging herself tightly as tears continue to stream down her pale cheeks.

“I promise I'm not going to hurt you,” Jughead assures her. She looks doubtful, so he slowly takes off his hat and leather jacket, completely exposing himself to her. “I've seen you, Betty Cooper. I've seen you these past few months, how you're hurting.”

Her eyes widen in disbelief, and she slowly shakes her head. She's shaking now, and Jughead wants nothing more than to hold her in his arms.

“I don't know what you're going through, but I know it must be hard to go through it alone. You've shut out everyone in your life, your grades are slipping-”

“How do you know that?” She interrupts. Jughead feels his face heat up, looking down at the ground bashfully.

“I've watched you for a long time. That's sounds creepy, I'm sorry. I mean-” he sighs, looking back up at her. Her eyes are wide, glossy with tears. “I know you don't know me, and you probably don't want to, but I want to know you. I want to help you.”

“I can't be helped, Jughead. You don't understand,” Betty tells him, her voice breaking. 

“I understand that you have people who care about you, no matter how long it's been since you've spoken to them. I understand that this isn't the right thing to do,” he says gently. He takes another step forward as she chokes out a sob, a round of fresh tears falling.

“You don't know anything about me,” she grits out. She drops to her knees and scrambles to pick up all the pills, hands moving frantically on the ground. 

“Betty, please!” Jughead rushes to her side, kneeling down with her and grabbing her hands. She tries pulling away, tries pulling the hand full of pills up to her mouth, but he doesn't let her. She's full on sobbing by now, begging him to let her go and to let her die.

“Please, I can't do this anymore! I've tried so hard, I just can't,” she sobs out. Jughead feels a few tears fall from his eyes, but he doesn't let go. He fights until she finally stops, her sobs preventing her from fighting back. He lets go of one hand and takes the pills from out of her hand. He stands up, ignoring her sobbing protests, and chucks the handful of pills into the rushing water.

“No!” Betty screams out, running into the water to try and salvage them, but to no use. Jughead grabs her around the waist, from where she’s hunched over and grabbing at the water, and pulls her into his arms, almost knee deep in water. She tries to struggle out of his arms and go further into the water, but he holds tight until her protests subside. He lets her cry into his chest, hands fisting his shirt as they remain standing in the water.

Jughead tries to walk her back to shore, but her legs give out when he so much as inches back. He steadies her before leaning down, putting an arm behind her legs and picking her up. She’s crying and shivering in his arms as he carries her back, but she has stopped struggling. 

When he gets her back onto the riverbank, he slowly sets her down. Within a few seconds, not wanting to leave her alone, he grabs his jacket and drapes it around her shoulders. He sits beside her and maneuvers her legs to lay over his lap, holding her close to his chest. She shivers in his arms, but her sobs have quieted down, silent tears streaming down her cheeks. 

“Why did you stop me?” Betty asks quietly after a few minutes of silence. Jughead looks down at her to find her staring at the river.

“I did what any person would do,” Jughead tells her. A breeze blows over them so he tightens the jacket around her shoulders, pulling her even closer.

“No, you didn’t. No one else followed me here, no one else threw away the pills,” she whispers, looking up at him with wide eyes. Jughead’s throat suddenly feels dry at the thought of not being there and letting her go through with it. He breathes in deep through his nose, looking out at the river.

“Like I said, I see you. I always have,” he mutters. He can feel Betty still staring at him, but he can’t look back at her yet. She can’t see how weak he is right now.

“That doesn’t make sense. You’re in a gang, you don’t let anyone even speak to you. You’re...you’re you, and you don’t even know me,” Betty argues.

“And you don’t know me,” Jughead retorts, looking back at her. She flinches slightly, curling up against his chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t- I didn’t mean to snap. I just-”

Jughead is suddenly overcome by emotions, tears flooding his eyes. He sucks in a breath and looks away, avoiding Betty’s gaze. 

“I’m sorry,” Betty whispers, clutching at his shirt. He takes a deep breath to calm himself before he looks back at her, more tears running down her face. His eyes drift towards the cut on her cheek, his hand coming up to rest softly on her jaw. He runs his thumb gently across the cut, but she flinches away, trying to hide her face behind her hair.

“Don’t,” Jughead says, brushing the hair out of the way. She looks up at him with wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling. “Don’t hide from me, Betty.”

“Why are you being so nice to me? You don’t owe me anything,” she mutters, wiping away a few tears. Jughead smiles slightly, caressing the side of her face.

“Someone needs to be,” he shrugs. She looks up at him, eyes flicking across his face, studying him. She seems to be contemplating something, her brow furrowed. Jughead just watches her, stroking his thumb across her cheek, wiping at the flowing tears. She seems to decide against telling him anything, for now, instead laying her head on his shoulder. He cradles her in his arms, and they sit like that, enjoying each other’s silence. When the sun starts to set and it starts to get cooler, Jughead realizes it’s getting late.

“We should get going,” he tells her. She freezes in his arms, and he feels her breath quicken. “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? What is it?”

“I can’t go home, I can’t. It’s not-I can’t go back,” Betty says frantically. She starts shaking her head, burying her face in his neck and mumbling things he can’t understand. He shushes her, petting her hair to calm her down.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You come home with me, alright? I’ll keep you safe,” he assures her, his face in her hair. It takes her a moment, but she nods. Her breathing is still erratic, but she sits up straight, wiping her face. He gives her a soft smile, moving her hair behind her ear. She smiles tearfully, letting him pull her up. She leans on him as they walk to his truck, and Jughead keeps his arm tightly around her waist. It’s a start, and they still have a lot to work through, but it’s a start.


End file.
